The idea of travelling has always fascinated me. Being a first-year student is an overwhelming position. Many of us are still getting to know the campus, the people around us, constantly experiencing stress and finding it difficult to make friends. Noticing the opportunity of being an active citizen, and getting to travel to a different province, gave me a sense of courage and explore my boundaries. Coming into the first day of the workshop I did not know what to expect. We were shown a video about targeting the idea of privilege and how it is leveled based on a person’s thought of their own privileges. The people who were thought to have less privilege are

Coming into the first day of the workshop I did not know what to expect. We were shown a video about targeting the idea of privilege and how it is leveled based on a person’s thought of their own privileges. The people who were thought to have less privilege are shown to be at the back of the line while those who thought to have more privilege are shown to be at the front. The concept of the exercise is to portray an understanding of what it means to have privilege and how other people have more, or less, than others. The video itself gives an important impact within ourselves and how we value these privileges.

One of the most fascinating workshop I encountered was the By stander intervention. The idea of a bystander just getting involved in scenarios where actions may hurt others can vary in many ways. There are ways in which people may approach it through comfort for the victims. There are also some who approach it in a more direct way. Throughout this workshop I’ve learned that a simple distraction can help.

February 17, 2018, It was three in the morning when I got up and started to make breakfast. I arrived exactly four o’clock in the morning and there was my team leaders, Ahmed and Cassie, and the other girls. We were too tired to even think properly. I even forgot to check in my luggage back when we were about to cross the security lane check; Ahmed and I went back to check in my luggage and when we came back, the nice security let us through the priority lane. We got through before the others, and so we waited for them.

It was almost one o’clock when we arrived at the hostel. We got to settle in our bags and everyone is starving. We all went out to eat at a vegetarian restaurant near us and got our food. The food is remarkably delicious. As an individual, who is not vegetarian at all, I must say this restaurant has some delicious foods to offer.

We all went back to the hostel and the team leaders went to check what groceries we needed for the week. The team leaders and a few volunteers from the group including me, all went to Loblaw to do our groceries and when we finished, we went back to the hostel.

To wrap up our first day we all had free pasta that the hostel offered, and others stayed downstairs to play some board games, some went to their beds to sleep. And by some, I meant me.